Improvement in machines for crimping leather for boots and shoes



V s. w.`1AM|soN. 5 Machines for Crimping Leather for Boots andShoes, No.139,717. Pa1en1ed1une10`,`1373."

2 Shexts-"Sheet 2.

` s. wQiAMlsoN. i A Machines for Crimping Leather for Boots. andShoes."` N0. 139,717. l Patentediunei04i873. i

Uivrrnn STATES PATENT, Oer@ SAMUEL WV. JAMISON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND WILLIAM J. DUDLEY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR CRIMPING LEATHER FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,717, dated June 10,1873; application fihd May 20, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, SAMUEL W. JAMIsoN, of Newark, Essex county, NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Crimping Leather for Boots and Shoes, and for Crimping otherMaterials, of which the following is a specifica-tion:

My invention principally relates to crimping-machines of the kind forwhich Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me May 7,1867, No. 64,538, and February 15, 1870, No. 99,906.

The machine in which my present invention is embodied in the mainresembles the machine shown and described in the patent last abovenamed, the differences consisting, first, in the 4 construction of thecrimping-jaws, and second,

in the addition ot'inishing-jaws which follow the crimpingjaws to pressandsmooth out the wrinkles from the material acted on by thecrimping-jaws.

`The nature of my invention, and the manner in which the same is or maybe carried into eit'ect, will be readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view, inperspective, of a machine made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2is a rear elevation ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a view of one of thecrimping-jaws detached. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical central sectionot' one of the finishing-jaws and one of the 'crmpingjawa together wit-htheir adjusting mechanism. Fig. 5 is a view of one of thefinishing-jaws.

The hinged and laterally-adjustable ways i K, for the crimping-jaws, andthe Weights 15,

and rods and levers 12 13 14 16, for drawing said ways toward eachother, are arranged and operate in the manner described in section IIIof the specih'cation of my patent No. 99,906, above referred to. So alsomy present machine contains the` same arrangement of the system oflevers 17 1.8 19, connecting-rod 20, and treadle 21, as described insection IV of the specification of said patent. The adjusting mechanismof the-crimpingjaws D I) is constructed and combined with said jaws inthe manner described in section II of the specification-of said patent.`The gearing for imparting an up-anddown movement to the jaws 1s alsoconstructed and arranged as described in section I of the specificationof said patent, with the exception that I nowdispense i i with the twodifferent-sized gears, by means' of which, in the patented machine, thejaws were moved upward at a greater speed than they were moved downward;and in lieu thereof I use a sm gle intermediate gear, by means of whichthe jaws a-re caused to ,travel at the same rate ot speed up and down.This I am enabled now to do by reason of the peculiar" construction,hereinafter described," of` the crimping-jaws, which renders unnecessarythe slow downward movement ofthe jaws required under the oldconstruction in order to avoid tearing or injuring the leather. The`tripping devices and clutch are also constructed and i arranged 1n themanner described in the afore-` said patent.

Further reference to the above recited mechanisms will not, therefore,be necessary, and I shall confine myself to a descriptionof thosedevices in which my present invention is found.

There are two crimping-jaws, D, designed to pass down on `opposite sidesof the tree or form N. By the action of 4these jaws the leatheron thetree is crimped into shape.`

Each jaw being a counterpart of the other, a" y description ot' one willanswer for both.

I now dispense with the clamp-piece which,

in the machine described in patent 99,906, was l i located in the lowerpart or heel ofthe jaw, A

the leather, when first acted "on, willhugfthe point only of the jawwithout" clinging tothe" beveled sides. In the machine as heretoforemade the lower part of' the jaw was simply rounded, its edge being atall parts perpendicular, or substantially so, to the side ot.' the tree.The consequence was that the leather,

when first pressed down by thejaw, would hug and cling to the lower edgeofthejaw throughout the whole or nearly the extent of the same.Inthisway theleather would beforced orspread away from the heel insteadof bein g drawn or concentrated toward it, as it should be, in order toproduce a properly-crimped front, and by reducing the quantity ofleather at the heel there was danger of tearing the front at that point.Under the present construction this difficulty is obviated. Theprojectingbeak a which takes hold of that part of the leather whichforms the heel or lower rear corner of the boot front is the only partof the jaw to which the leather can cling whenY the jaw reaches the treeand first acts on the leather, and the beveled parts b on each sidethereof eectually prevent the clinging or hugging of the leather atthose points. The interior face of the jaw is formed with a series ofcentral, upwardly-curved corrugations, c, which have the effect ofcrowding or concentrating the leather toward the heel of the boot frontas the jaw descends, in this respect dii'ering essentially andmaterially from the jaw in my previously-patented machine. The middle orhighest point of each curve should preferably be in a vertical linepassing through the center of the beak a of the jaw. The object ot' thisformation ofthe corrugations is, as above intimated, to crowd orconcentrate the stock toward the heel of the crimped front, where theleather must be most drawn out, where the greatest strain comes, andwhere the most material is needed. Were the central corrugationsdownwardly curved they would have exactly an opposite eiect, and wouldtend to spread the material away from the point where it is notrequired. The toe portion cl and leg portion c ofthe jaw are alsoprovided with corrngations; but these are so formed, as shown, as todivert the material in front of them from the heel, so as to preventexcessive concentration of stock at the latter point, and to equalize,as far as possible, the thickness of the material of the iinished andcrimped front. The proportional dimensions of the part withupwardly-curved central corrugations, and theV toe and leg portions, aresuch that the said central corrugated part will have traversed onlyabout one-half of the boot front when the toe and leg portions havepassed by or below the same. Thus, after the side corrugations d and ehave passed by and below the leather, the latter will still be acted onby the central corrugations c, the upper half of which will still berequired to traverse the front before thejaw will have completed itsdownward movement. In this way the Yfinal strain upon the crimped Yfrontis given by the upwardly-curved central corrugations at a point wherethat strainis most needed, viz.,` the heel, and at a time whensufficient leather has been crowded into the heelfto allow it to befully stretched and brought to a point without danger of rupturing thefront or tearing out the corner.

vIt will be obvious that the toe and leg corrugations might be dispensedwith, inasmuch as the edges d e would act on the leather to a greatextent like the corrugations. It is alsoto be remarked that theupwardly-curved central corrugations may be only in the upper half ofthe jaw, or thereabout, and that they need not be ranged in a continuousand regular series from top to bottom of the jaw. So also theconstruction of the beak a and bevels b can be modified. I have,however, shown the jaw in the form in which I believe it to be bestadapted for practical use.

The use of these crimping jaws is not necessarily confined to thespecialmachine herein described. They may be employed incrimping-brakes,? so called, or other suitable mechanism for crimping.

I combine with crimping-jaws a second set of jaws, which aresmooth-faced, and move up and down with the crimping-jaws, following thelatter in their descent so as to act on the crimped front as it leavesthe crimping-jaws, smoothing and taking all wrinkles out of thematerial. These jaws I term the finishingjaws.' They are represented atE E. Each is composed of a supporting-plate, f, faced on the inner sidewith a separate plate, g, which is designed to be in contact with thecrimped front. This plate g, which may be considered to constitute thenishing-jaw proper, has its lower edge q1 shaped to t exactly the upperedge of the tree, so that the jaw in its descent will come in contactwith the tree simultaneously throughout its length. The jaw g isfastened rigidly to its backing j' at the center g2; but its ends arefree, so that they may be set out more or less from the backing by meansof screws 7L, whose ends bear against the free portion of the jaw. Thelatter is made of steel, or suitable flexible and elastic material, soas to permit of this adjustment, the objectof which is to adapt the jawto the varying thickness of the boot-front operated on 5 said front,when it leaves the crimping-jaws having usually more thickness in themiddle than toward the two ends. The finishing-jaws are preferablyarranged above the crimpingjaws at such distance, as shown, that theywill take hold of the crimped front before it is entirely released bythe crimping-jaws.

The two nishing-jaws are adjusted toward and away from each other bymechanism but slightly differing from that employed for the same purposewith the crimping-jaws. Each jaw is jointed at its lower end by ahorizontal hinge, if, to an arm, t', on a vertical plate, F, mounted ona spindle, l, on which it is capable of an oscillating movement. Thisoscilla-Y tion is `controlled by aI set-screw, k, passing through acurved slot in the plate F into the stationary plate G iixed on the axisZ in rear of plate F. The jaws are set closer together, wheneverdesired, by means of a disk, H, one for each jaw, loosely mounted on thespindle l, and having on its rear face a double helical cam, which litsa corresponding cam surface on the face of the bracket I, these partsbeing similar to those employed for the same puipose with thecrimping-jaws. The head ofthe spindle l is heldin the brackeuand itsscrewthreaded end projects beyond plate F, and is `provided with a nut,by means of which the parts, when adjusted, can be tightly clampedtogether. The upper end of the jaw is connected with bracket I by meansof a plate, m, held. adjnstably to the jaw by a screw, n, passingthrough a slot in the plate m, the latter being connected with a jointedhead, Yo, on the bracket by means of a divided right-and-leftscrew-threaded rod, p, having its two contiguous ends united by acorrespondingly-screwthreaded couplin g-sleeve, 1^, by means of whichthe working length of the rod p can be increased or decreased atpleasure. When the parts p and o are pressed down so as to be inline,the jaw will be held rigidly and prevent-4 ed from giving back; butby breaking or elevating the joint between them, as shown on the left inFig. 2, the jaw will be tilted back on its lower joint or axis i.According to the working length of the rod p, the upper end of the jaw,when the parts p and o are in line, will be forced out more or less,this depending upon the adjustment of the lower part of the jaw l,effected by means of cam H. The adjustment of the jaws toward each otheris thus provided for. It is, however, necessary also to provide for theoscillation of the jaws on the spindles l, in order to conform to thevarying position of the tree or form, which is made adjustable, or so asto be tilted endwise, as described in my patent No. 99,906. Thisprovision is found in the mode of holding the slotted plate m to thejaw, and the slotted plate F to the plate G, by their respectivesetscrews n and k. By loosening these screws E and the nut on spindle l,the jaws can be set at any desired angle. The tilting of the finishing-jaws on their axes i is effected by mea-ns of bent levers o, one foreach jaw, riveted to brackets I or arms c extending therefrom, andformed with slots in their shorter arms, through which pass pinsprojecting from arms o on the parts 0. By taking either lever by thehandle and vibratin git up or down, the jaw will be correspondinglytilted forward or back, as seen in Figs. l and 2. The brackets I of thernishing-jaws slide up and down on independent ways J, arranged withinor between the ways which carry the crimpingjaws. The ways J are hingedprecisely like the crimping-jaw ways, and are provided with anindependent system of levers, connectingrods, and weights for drawingthem together, arranged in the same manner as the like devices for thecrimping -jaw ways, as fully shown in the drawings, and thereforerequiring no further description. The brackets I are provided 'withhorizontal splines s, fitted in grooves inl the brackets of thecrimpingjaws, so that each set of jaws may be free to move apartindependently of the other, to couform to different thicknesses ofleather, while at the same time they must both move together up anddown. .I connect, in this instance, the cross-head B with the jawsbymeans of jointed rods t, extending from the lower ends of the bracketsof the crimpingjaws to the cross-head. v The ends of the latter extendthrough between the" hinged ways of the two sets of jaws,`and work upand down in xed or stationary guides L.

I contemplate using the machine for crimping not only leather but cloth,serge, &c. In the latter case the finishing-jaws shouldbe heated, whichcould bereadily effected by making them hollow and heating theminternally by gas.

I have described what I consider to be the best and most practicablearrangement of then crimping and finishing jaws and` their acces`sories. It is manifest, however, that the details of arrangement andconstruction can be variously modified without departurefrom theprinciples of my invention. I do not, therefore, limit myself to theprecise details herein described andishown; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The crimping-jaws, each formed with a projecting beak or point, andinwardly beveled on each side thereof, substantially as shown anddescribed, so that when the jaws descend the material when lirst actedon shall hug the beaks or points only of the jaws without y 3. Acrimping-jaw for crimping boot and` shoe fronts, formed with aprojecting beak or point, and inwardly beveled on each side thereof, andprovided with central upwardlycurved corrugations, with orwithout toeand leg corrugations, substantially as hereinshown and described.

4. A crimping-jaw constructed with toe and leg portions, and with acentral part provided with upwardly-curved corrugations, substantiallyas described, the said central part being of such relative dimensions tothe toe and leg portions that, during the descent of the jaw, ,y it willhave traversed only about one-half the4 boot or shoe front, when the toeand leg portions of the jaw are about to release or quit,-`

the same.

5. In a crimping-jaw for crimping boot and shoe fronts, the combinationof the central upwardly-curved corrugations with toe and legcorrugations, formed y substantially as shown and described. so as todivert from the heel or lower point of the front the material y on eachside of said central corrugations, for the purposes set forth.

6. In a crimping-machine, the combination, with the crimping-jaws, offinishing-jaws following said crimping-jaws and acting on the crimpedfront as it leaves the lat-ter set of jaws, substantially as shown anddescribed.

7. The finishing-jaws having such a contour as to tit 0r come in contactsimultaneously at all points of their lower edges with the tree, or thecrimped front thereon, and arranged immediately above the crimping-jawsto take Yhold of the crimped front before it is entirely released by thecrimping-jaws, substantially as shown and set forth.

8. The iinishingjaws formed substantially as described, with toe and legportions, which may be adjusted or set .out more or less to conform toirregularities in the thickness of the crimped front.

, 9. In combination with the crimping-jaws and finishing-jaws, thehinged independent ways upon which said sets of jaws respectively slide,and the independent and separate systems of levers, connecting-rods, andweights, for drawing together said ways, substantially as shown and`described.

10. The co1nbination,with the finishing-jaws, of mechanism,substantially as described, for

jointed atY their lower ends to their supporting brackets, the devicesherein described for connecting the upper ends of said jaws to theirbrackets, and the levers whereby said devices may be operated to tiltthe said jaws toward or away from each other vas desired, substantiallyas and for the purposes shown and set forth. i

In testimony whereof I have signed my Vname to this specification beforetwo subscribing witnesses.

S. NV. JAMISON.

Witnesses:

M. BAiLEY, EDM. F. BROWN.

